In the last post I asked that you start reading the second Pada, this is because I believe that it is a nice place to start studying. I still want you to take a look at this Pada, however I will start posting sutras from the first Pada with explanation and discussion, one at a time...one each day. So, check in here daily to read the sutra and respond or ask questions accordingly.

Monday, March 16, 2009

To this point, we have not spent a great deal of time studying the philosophies associated with the Ashtanga Vinyasa System. As we continue to move forward, the physical practice is taking shape, I would like to start introducing some of the philosophical aspects of the practice. These will be simple illustrations of some of the concepts and how they could be applied to your daily life. Of course some will be more challenging than others, experiment with spending some time with the "1% theroy" of Ashtanga Yoga and see if or how it changes how you move throughout your day.Guruji often refers to his Ashtanga Vinyasa System as "Patanjali's Yoga." The translation of "ashtanga" is ashta=eight and anga=limb, which implies an eight fold path. The path as descirbed in the Yoga Sutras are guidelines for how we live; moral and ethical conduct, self discipline, etc...a prescription, if you will, for how to live a purposeful life. Do a little on-line search regarding the Yoga Sutras, Book 2. www.swamij.com is a great place to start. I will start posting some things to think about along with a sutra... let the journey begin! I hope you enjoy this section of the training.Peace,Linda

It was a great day in teacher training on Sunday, March 15th! We practiced in the morning, had a wonderful lunch at Infusion Tea outside in this glorious weather and then got to work! We worked our way through Navasana in adjustments. The homework for this section is to continue the work in understanding the Sanskrit name and translation of the postures. Marichyasana has a different translation, it is named after someone... who is it? Do some research on Marichi.